“I have learned from that woman . . . as much about television as I did about the law from my mentor, the late Johnnie Cochran.

“I will not denigrate Ms. Walters. That’s not who I am.”

In her first TV interview since announcing her departure Tuesday morning, Reynolds said she had actually been told on April 21 that her contract wouldn’t be renewed.

Walters had arranged a “long tribute” to her on Thursday, Reynolds said.

“I never agreed to any of that,” she said. “From the beginning, I was told, ‘You will be able to leave on your own terms.’ “

Star then blasted Walters’ statement to viewers on Wednesday morning, revealing that “Star has known for months” and that “We wanted to protect Star. We gave her time to look for another job . . . to leave with dignity.”

“I’m sad that the platform that I helped build was used to attack me professionally,” Star complained.

When King asked whether she thought the statement was an attack, Star demurred, “I’ll leave that to viewers to decide.”

She also said it was “strange in terms of the timing” that she was told of plans to put Rosie O’Donnell on the show five days after she was told her contract was being yanked.

“She went on a very public attack of me and my family,” Star said. “She talked about my weight . . . and she attacked my family . . . I was so shocked by the viciousness of it.”

She said she did confront Walters about ABC’s decision.

“This is a business decision, and wrap yourself around it, Star,” she quoted Walters as responding.

Yet she said she still held Walters “in tremendous, high regard.”

Meanwhile, O’Donnell continued to take shots at Star, reportedly wisecracking at Madonna’s opening-night concert at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night: “She thinks she’s Beyoncé!” when asked how she felt about the slimmed-down and re-glamorized Star.

Cornered by a gossip writer for the celebrity Web site Jossip at the Madonna show, Rosie at first declined to comment on the fight, saying, “I’m not at liberty to discuss it” – while adding an exaggerated wink.

Asked whether she’s upset about not having the opportunity to spar with Jones next fall on “The View,” O’Donnell said coyly, “Well, you know how much I like her.” Then she delivered the Beyoncé quip.

Walters is wasting little time beginning the search for Reynolds’ replacement.

On “The View” yesterday, “One Life to Live” star Rene Goldsberry, an African-American soap actress who plays a lawyer, joined the panel – looking like a skinnier, more pleasant version of real lawyer Reynolds.

At the beginning of the show, she confidently dodged a few good-natured barbs about her predecessor from the show’s hosts, including Walters, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

“Let’s hear Rene say, ‘I’m a lawyer,’ ” Behar joked – a reference to Reynolds, a former Brooklyn prosecutor who frequently liked to remind viewers of her legal cred.

“I can’t get in the middle of this,” Goldsberry said, before Walters moved the conversation along to another topic.

Goldsberry is the first of what is likely to be a small parade of candidates for Reynolds’ old job.

“The View” has sought replacement hosts three times in the past, most recently landing Reynolds’ nemesis Rosie as a replacement for Vieira, who left last month to join the “Today” show.

Previous searches resulted in jobs for Hasselbeck, a former star on “Survivor” and her predecessor, Lisa Ling, who replaced the show’s original “young” host, Debbie Matenopolous.

The former “View” co-host said yesterday on “Good Day LA” that before she was fired from “The View” in 1999, she thought that she and Reynolds were extremely close.

After she left the show, Reynolds abandoned her.

“The thing that was most hurtful to me, was that I thought that [she] was my friend, and then [she] was nowhere to be found,” she said. “That’s why it’s called ‘show business,’ not ‘show friends’ .”